Shackled
''We rest here for the night,'' the regal Inuyoukai instructed his retainer and his young human ward.
''Milord?'' Jaken's annoying squealing interjected, voicing his confusion.
He couldn't believe it! His master has once again come to a stop when there were at least another two hours of daylight left. He couldn't understand the frequency of these early stops, not when he was accustomed to travelling through the night because his master didn't wish to waste any time.
''Lord Sesshomaru said we are to rest here, Jaken,'' Rin said, rolling her brown eyes at the small demon as she climbed off of A-Un, more than happy to oblige her lord.
''But, but, Master,'' the imp stammered, his reptilian slits muddled with confusion. ''We still have time to cover more ground,'' Jaken tried to implore his Lordship, but his master didn't even turn his way, ignoring him entirely while he intently looked out into the distance.
''Do you question me, Jaken?'' came the long, emotionless drawl of Lord Sesshomaru's voice, sending shivers of distress down Jaken's spine.
Jaken's eyes widened comically, and he hurriedly shook his small green head. ''No, Lord Sesshomaru, Master. Never,'' he insisted, tears forming in his big eyes as he trembled in fright of the Daiyoukai's wrath.
Sesshomaru glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, his impatience perfectly concealed behind his impassive face. ''Take care of Rin,'' were his only words before he was gone.
''Lord Sesshomaru!'' Jaken called after him. ''Where are you going, Milord? Let your humble servant come with you!'' he wailed tragically.
''Stop shouting, Jaken,'' Rin interrupted him mid-sob. ''You're bothering A-Un,'' she informed him, stroking both of the beast's heads soothingly.
The toad turned around and narrowed his eyes at the young girl. ''Don't think you can order me around, you lowly human!'' he exclaimed, appalled by the idea that he had to mind the beast's feelings, but Rin wasn't paying attention to him anymore, already walking away with the two-headed dragon. ''Where are you going? Lord Sesshomaru said I have to take care of you,'' Jaken screeched behind her, madly waving around his staff.
''We're just going to find a nice patch of sun, Jaken,'' Rin giggled, turning around in small circles with her hands stretched out towards the sky. She came to a stop facing Jaken, and she gave him a sweet, shy smile. ''I was going to pick some flowers for you on the way,'' she explained, brown eyes shining with innocent excitement.
The toad started sputtering, blushing at the young girl. ''For, for, for me?'' he asked her hopefully.
''Of course!'' she exclaimed. ''Look, Jaken, I see some pretty ones there,'' she pointed and excitedly started skipping over to the treasures she sought.
Assured that Rin was safe Sesshomaru stopped listening in on his ward and took off into the direction in which he sensed her.
He came to a quick stop with a fog of dust settling around him, knowing that if he went any further the half breed would be able to sense him.
With a grace only he possessed, Sesshomaru leapt up to the top of the highest tree he could find and turned his attention to the young priestess resting in the distance, unable to cease this incessant need he felt to keep her close to him.
He allowed himself to inhale a deep breath, and when his sensitive nose caught her fresh scent, it made his beast rumble in his chest. ''Go to her!'' it ordered him, struggling for dominance. It's all his beast has done in the past few months, battle him for command, and it has become increasingly gruelling to keep it contained.
The priestess' scent was tainted with worry and anxiety, making the Daiyoukai close his eyes in concentration, trying to reign in his aura which desired to reach out and stroke the priestess soothingly and possessively. He was fighting off every instinct inside him that screaming at him to go to the woman that had his blood boiling, but he wouldn't. He wouldn't succumb to this absurd need for a human. His brother's human, no less.
''Ours!'' roared his beast in protest to his thoughts. He felt his eyes flash and burn a deep red before he managed to push it back into submission.
He tried ignoring it, repeatedly clenching and releasing his claw, wondering what he had done to displease the Kamis. Even so, he couldn't stop himself as he listened past the rattling leaves and twittering birds, through the animals that are trudging in the forest and along the refreshing sound of the stream not far from where the priestess and her travelling companions stopped to rest.
''I'm going to look for some herbs I need for Sango's salve.'' There it was, that sweet voice he wished to have never had the displeasure of hearing.
She sounds tired, he noted.
''Didn't you make some two days ago?'' the half breed asked her, not at all pleased at the prospect of letting the priestess out of his sight.
Sesshomaru couldn't stop himself from growling at the way the half-whit was speaking to the priestess, but he had to agree with him, she shouldn't be running around the forest on her own.
''Yes, I did make some two days ago, and now it's finished, meaning that I will have to make some more,'' she told him, barely able to contain her irritation. ''Do you or do you not want Sango to get better, so we don't have to stop so early anymore?''
Sesshomaru's lips twitched into a smirk before he composed himself again, fighting off the pride he felt growing in his chest. It was of no matter to him if the priestess was a strong-willed woman. She wasn't his woman. He felt no pride, just mild respect. How could he not?
''I'll come with you,'' Inuyasha said quietly, likely not wanting to provoke any further irritation from her.
Sesshomaru's beast didn't like it, her and his half-brother alone in the forest away from their companions.
''At least she will be protected,'' he tried to reason with it, but his beast just snarled at him, raging at the thought of what could happen between them.
''We protect,'' it growled back. ''Ours!''
''I'll be fine, Inuyasha,'' the Miko insisted, exasperated. ''You go and catch us some fish for dinner,'' she suggested gently, quickly losing her annoyance, which made the Daiyoukai roll his eyes.
''Keh, don't tell me that I didn't warn you when some demon creeps up on you and you start screaming for help.'' With that, he was gone, thankfully heading in the opposite direction from where Sesshomaru stood perched in the tree.
''Why does he always have to be so damn difficult?'' he heard the priestess ask her other companions morosely.
''Because he doesn't know any other way,'' came the monk's solemn input. ''He cares, Lady Kagome,'' he continued. ''The demon attack three days ago has him rattled, still.''
''But I wasn't even the one hurt!'' she exclaimed.
''True,'' the monk said, ''but only because for some reason the demon fled before it could sink its claws into your soft, sweet, luscious-''
''We get the picture, Miroku,'' the priestess interrupted.
''-flesh,'' the monk finished, and Sesshomaru could hear the grin in the lecher's voice, probably at the expense of the Miko's blush. Yes, he could feel the warmth spiking in her aura. It had his beast's claws out, wanting to sink them into the monk's chest and rip out his still beating heart.
''I still don't understand that,'' the demon slayer joined into the conversation.
He couldn't help the pride that warmed his skin when he remembered the youkai he had chased away for the priestess a few nights ago. He hadn't wanted the interfere, but when he heard her scream, he had just reacted.
''Doesn't matter,'' the priestess quickly interrupted, stopping the slayer's thought. ''I'll get those herbs before the sun goes down and I'll be back soon. You think you'll be able to set up camp alone?'' she asked them, concern lacing her voice again.
''Sure, Kagome. It's only my shoulder, we'll manage,'' the demon slayer assured her, but he could smell her agony as she moved her shoulder.
''I won't go far,'' the priestess said and he heard her moving away from them. ''Scream if you need something,'' she joked, but he noticed a sudden change in her scent. Is that, is that excitement he smelled? Excitement laced with a profound eagerness?
He took a deeper breath to confirm it, and it was, excitement and eagerness spiked with musky anticipation.
He focused all his senses on the priestess and came to the painful realization that she was heading in his direction. In that instant, he wished for shackles that would be able to keep him restrained, because for the first time in over a century he didn't trust himself.
He didn't understand this inordinate need his beast had for the mortal, but it raged to claim her like it had no other female before.
She defied him, several times, yet he didn't strike her down. He had tried to, only once before. The consequences that had followed he preferred not to think about - ever.
His brother severed his arm, and yet all he had been able to see were her azure eyes, consumed by her scent and by the power he felt stroking his own.
He could have killed her. He should have killed her, but he didn't because his beast wanted her, claimed her pack.
Sesshomaru's musings came to a halt when he heard her footsteps stop a few hundred feet away from him. He listened to her rustling in the bushes in search of her herbs and listened to her hum for a few minutes, transfixed by the simple tune just because it passed over her soft lips.
''I know you're there,'' she said abruptly, voice calm and steady.
The Daiyoukai didn't move, and he didn't breathe, shoulders tensing, bracing himself for an attack.
''I know you've been following us, Lord Sesshomaru,'' she continued, and he narrowed his eyes in her direction. ''I also know that it was you that saved me three days ago from that youkai.''
He had underestimated the priestess's abilities yet again.
Sesshomaru had been able to mask his scent and aura from his brother but not from her. Why hadn't she told half-breed if she had known all along? Why did she come out here, away from the protection of Tetsaiga? Why was she revealing herself to him now, smelling the way she did?
Unable to keep away, he leapt gracefully from a few trees before landing silently behind her.
She knew he was behind her, she must sense him, but she continued picking her plants as if he wasn't there, as if he wasn't able to kill her with one swipe of his claw.
He allowed himself a moment to take her in. Her dark hair, glowing in a blue hue as she shifted into an escaped ray of sun. Her wide hips and her narrow waist. Her long, shapely legs covered in that strange fabric that revealed too much to his already tempted beast. She is beautiful, for a human, that he could begrudgingly admit.
His beast growled appreciatively at the sight of this exquisite female in front of him. ''Take her,'' it growled, but Sesshomaru ignored it once again. She is beautiful but human. He will not take a human.
''Why didn't you inform the half-breed?'' he finally asked her, voice detached and not giving away any of the curiosity he felt. Why had she not told them that it was he who came to their aid? Could it be possible she was keeping his secret?
''Because it was obvious you didn't want him to know, and I felt no ill intentions,'' she said simply, still not turning his way. Her words surprised him, but they didn't. ''I didn't want another unnecessary fight,'' she explained but didn't elaborate any further.
Kagome should have felt afraid, she knew how dangerous the Daiyoukai behind her could be, but for some unknown reason, she felt drawn to him. His aura called out to her, and she was tired of ignoring it, ignoring him. She wants answers, but she wouldn't be getting any if she didn't ask questions to the right person.
The first day she had sensed him she panicked and almost told Inuyasha, but Sesshomaru hadn't made a move to engage in a fight, so she waited it out hoping it was just coincidence that their paths had crossed. The days grew into weeks, and he continued to follow them, just far enough so that Inuyasha wouldn't get wind of him.
After the first week, she didn't feel afraid anymore, it troubled her, but she couldn't help it. He started to represent a blanket of security for her. She woke up every morning, and she instinctively felt herself search for his presence in the distance, soothed when his energy brushed against hers.
Why is he following them? What were his intentions? Why hadn't he tried to kill them yet?
Three days ago he saved her life from that demon. She hadn't been able to see him, and she hadn't even been able to feel him, but she had known it was him, it had to be.
That incident had only managed to add even more questions she was unable to answer.
Why save her? Why hide? Why follow them at all?
Her mind also supplied her with images of Sesshomaru's regal form covered in his armour and fur. It made her stomach heat up and her face flush because her next thought would always be what he might look like without them covering him. Try as she might she couldn't shake him off of her mind. She couldn't get rid of him or his eyes, his beautiful glowing amber eyes.
She wanted to ask him now, all those questions that have plagued her for the past weeks, but she was afraid he'd leave.
''Thank you,'' she said instead, trying not to blush, wanting to turn around but afraid that he would know all her secrets.
She wasn't surprised when he stayed silent, but she also didn't want him to leave, so she tried again. ''How is Rin?'' she asked him, knowing that he held affection for the girl that was still travelling with him, it was also the only thing that came to her mind.
''Content,'' he replied to her delight, his voice closer than she expected, and rougher. ''Why did you come out here, Priestess? To give me your gratitude?'' he asked her, and she bit her lip, unsure of the answer herself.
Yes, she had wanted to thank him for saving her life, but it was honestly just an excuse to finally confront him, to see him and not just feel him. She wanted to see him, but she couldn't tell him that because the next inevitable question that would follow will be 'why?' and she doesn't know why. This urge she felt, she couldn't articulate it. There was no plausible reason or explanation for her need to confront him because Sesshomaru has never regarded her with any manner of respect and never showed any interest in her. Somehow, the past few weeks, something changed. She couldn't explain it because there were no words for the emotions she felt growing inside her, but they were there
Kagome finally plucked the courage to turn herself around, and her breath caught in her throat when she noticed that he was within arm's reach.
She trailed her eyes up to his face, unable to not notice how painfully beautiful he was before her eyes locked with his.
Kagome had to bite back a surprised gasp at the intensity she witnessed in the amber depths. Red started seeping into amber, and she knew that could only mean that his beast was fighting to come out, but why? Did it consider her hostile because of her purifying powers?
She suddenly felt desolate, feeling an irrational need for his beast to accept her.
''Why did you save me, Lord Sesshomaru?'' Kagome finally braved quietly, but there was no mistaking her words, not with his demon hearing.
In an instant Sesshomaru leapt away from her, making Kagome stumble backward at the unexpected movement which almost made her lose her footing.
If he stayed any longer he wouldn't be able to control himself, just the way his name fell from her lips nearly had his restraint undone. What was it about this human that managed to challenge his control?
''Take her now!'' his beast growled demandingly at him again.
In his fury to make his beast submit, he let out a feral snarl which had Kagome cowering away from him. Her scent spiked with fear, and that thought silenced his beast, making it whimper unsettlingly.
Sesshomaru realized in that instant that his beast didn't want this female afraid of him, felt no need for her to submit to him as her alpha. He wants her attention and affections. He wants to protect her. He wants her as his mate and not just to rut with her.
''Mate,'' agreed his beast. ''Ours!''
''You should leave,'' he told her, but his mind had gone numb in shock.
His beast has chosen a mate.
How could he not notice? Was he that deep in denial?
''I don't want to,'' she told him resolutely. By her wide eyes and open mouth, he assumed her words hadn't shocked only him.
''Do you have a death wish, Miko?'' he asked her emotionlessly, but his intense eyes never left hers. He was now genuinely wondering about the human's sanity. ''I said leave, Miko, or die by my claw,'' he hissed not so gently, but she didn't waver. The scent of fear she wore like a cloak only moments before all but washed away.
''I don't think you'll hurt me,'' she said, confident in her words. ''If you wanted me dead you wouldn't have saved me.''
She was right of course. He could have let that sand demon have at her, and this nuisance would be no more, but he didn't.
She took a step towards him and tilted her head to the side, her eyes swirling with questions he didn't want to answer. ''Besides,'' she continued, sending him a small smile, ''I don't think you want me to leave,'' she challenged him, making the hairs at the back of his neck stand up in anticipation.
Her face was open and innocent, but her azure eyes shone mischievously making him unable to tear his gaze away from her.
He had more than two centuries over this human girl, yet she manages to hold him hostage in her presence. How was she able to keep his mind a prisoner?
''I wish to have no human's company,'' he told her, narrowing his eyes into slits.
''Yet you allow Rin to travel with you,'' she countered, making the right corner of her lips twitch as she tried to contain her smirk.
He didn't have an answer for her and Kagome knew that.
She was about to say something, but she lost her train of thought when he suddenly closed the space between them. He was so close that she had to tilt her head up so that she could see his face.
She traced her eyes over the magenta stripes on his high cheekbones and up to the purple moon on his forehead. Kagome felt the sudden urge to reach out and touch the markings with the tips of her fingers, curious to see what they felt like under her touch.
She dropped her eyes to meet his and found him staring at her intently with hooded eyes, half covered with his sleek silver hair. That's when she felt it, the current bubbling in her veins, electrifying. Every nerve and cell in her body was vibrating with pure need and desire for this Daiyoukai.
The priestess' heart was racing, and her eyes were growing darker with each second that passed. He watched her place her lower lip between her teeth, and that's when he smelt it, the sweet scent of her desire. It rendered him immobile.
''Claim!'' growled his beast and at that moment, with the Miko's desire wafting up his nose and her aura and heat stoking against his, he was inclined to agree with his beast.
He curiously watched several emotions pass across her stormy eyes until resolve buried itself into her desire and spiced her scent with something indescribable. It had his beast panting.
The Miko reached out her small hand and rested it against his armour. In a few short moments, she closed the last inch of space between them, and Sesshomaru allowed it, unable to resist her proximity.
''Take off your armour,'' she commanded him, in a voice which was foreign to both of them but it had Sesshomaru's beast howling.
He wanted to snarl at her that he didn't take orders from filthy humans. He wanted to reject her undeniable advances on him, but instead of pushing her away, he tugged at the string of his armour and slipped it over his chest. He released his grip on it and allow it to fall to his side.
He will not mate the priestess, but he didn't need to mate to take this untouched Miko.
Kagome blinked, surprised that he had done as she asked of him and bit harder into her lip, nervously wondering if she was going through with this.
She looked up at his face filled with desire for her and she knew she would. She wanted him, and he seemed to return these urges she felt, so she would take what she wanted. Consequences be damned.
''Can I touch you, Lord Sesshomaru?'' she asked him, looking at him from under and long dark lashes.
Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side, contemplating his answer, making her feel nervous all over again. Did he not desire her after all?
''Know that if you do,'' he finally said, his deep voice eliciting a deep warmth to pool in the bottom of her stomach. He reached out his hand and ran a sharp nail gently down her cheek, and she had to stop herself from closing her eyes and leaning into his touch. ''There is no turning back,'' he warned her, his words coming out as a growl. ''This Sesshomaru will not stop,'' he continued, craving to wrap his arm around her waist so that he could pull her to him, but he will hold off until she says the words.
If Kagome were able to think she might have taken a second to chew over his words, but she wasn't thinking. ''I don't think I'll ever want you to stop,'' she confessed, breathless.
That's all Sesshomaru needed to hear, and his lips were on hers.
